Drew Peterson Jury Asks Judge to Define ‘Unanimous’
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Giovanni Rufino/NBC NewsWireBREAKING NEWS UPDATE: The jury has reached a verdict. It is expected to be read this afternoon.
(JOLIET, Ill.) — The Illinois jury deliberating the fate of accused killer Drew Peterson stopped discussions today to ask the judge the meaning of the word “unanimous.”
“Just to be clear, judge, what does unanimous mean?” read a note sent by jurors to Judge Edward Burmila this afternoon.
Judge Edward Burmila, who has overseen the six-week murder trial of the former Bolingbrook, Ill., police sergeant, wrote a note back to jurors explaining the meaning and referring the jurors back to the jury instructions he gave Tuesday morning.
“The word unanimous indicates the agreement of all on the matter at hand,” the note said.
The jury has been deliberating for nearly 12 hours total. On Tuesday, after they began deliberations, they asked the judge to let them hear key witness testimony reread aloud.
Peterson is accused of killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio. Her death was initially ruled an accident after she was found dead in her bathtub in 2004. However, after Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared without a trace in 2007, police exhumed Savio’s body and reexamined it, changing their finding to homicide.
Peterson was then charged with first-degree murder. He faces 60 years in prison if convicted.
Peterson has denied any involvement in Savio’s death and Stacy Peterson’s disappearance. He has never been charged in connection with Stacy’s case.
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